Chapter 13: Meow…

On the morning of the fourth day, Lin Chuyun finally sensed the spirit energy around the cave beginning to gather towards it.

Seeing that his little disciple had finally started Core Formation, Lin Chuyun’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed. Judging by the speed at which his little disciple was absorbing spirit energy, it should be done in a day or two.

Relieved, the little black cat lowered his head and licked his Spirit Orb, like licking a little sugar ball. Though the Spirit Orb really was tastier than a sugar ball.

After four days of licking, the Spirit Orb showed no significant change. It would probably last another ten days without issue.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Chuyun understood. Feng Xixing must have secretly left him extra spirit power without telling him.

No wonder he had thought Feng Xixing looked overly pale at the time. His little disciple was clearly bullying his lack of knowledge about spirit power to fool him every which way.

Hmph, when Feng Xixing comes out, he’ll have to learn that a cat’s claws are also very formidable!

Lin Chuyun crouched on the rock, full of ambition. But soon enough, the little black cat lay down again, his tail swaying idly. It was so quiet today, nothing but the wind. Even the wild beasts that usually came to peek at him were nowhere to be seen.

And there seemed to be a strange smell in the air.

The little black cat tilted his head, looking in another direction. The smell was faint, probably because it was very far away, but it gave him a very bad feeling.

Could it be another demon beast…

Swaying his tail, Lin Chuyun glanced at the cave still absorbing spirit energy, hesitating whether he should go check it out. After all, if a demon beast got close, Feng Xixing could be in great danger.

But if he wandered off and ended up drawing the demon beast over instead…

The little black cat paced anxiously on the rock several times, then lay down again, gently biting his tail. He hesitated for a long time between going to look and staying put, finally deciding to wait a bit longer and see the situation.

Maybe the demon beast was just his imagination, Lin Chuyun reassured himself.

Despite this, the worry in his heart couldn’t be suppressed. The little black cat abandoned his previous languid state; his two fluffy ears stood erect, constantly swiveling to listen to the surrounding sounds, his nose continuously sniffing the air.

If that strange scent dared to approach, he would absolutely be the first to discover it.

However, although the scent lingered nearby, it didn’t come closer, maintaining a distance that was neither near nor far. A bad premonition gradually grew in Lin Chuyun’s heart. He had a feeling that whatever that thing was… it might be waiting for the moment Feng Xixing completed his Core Formation.

The moment a cultivator forms their Core is their most vulnerable. Their Qi Sea has just shattered, and they haven’t yet compressed the overflowing spirit power into a Golden Core. It is, one could say, the moment they are closest to a mortal. If Feng Xixing were attacked at this time…

Watching the sky gradually darken, the spirit energy gathering faster and faster within the cave, that scent indeed began to slowly approach.

The little black cat crouched on the rock, his emerald cat pupils appearing deep and profound in the darkness. As the sky was too dark, the entire cat had completely merged into the shadows, only the patch of white on his tail tip still clearly visible.

Sensing the faint vibrations beginning to erupt from the cave and the approaching presence, Lin Chuyun knew he could wait no longer. Feng Xixing would need at least another two or three hours to complete his Core Formation, while that presence would arrive in at most an hour. He had to find a way to stall for time.

Thankfully, his little disciple had left him enough spirit power beforehand.

Lin Chuyun lowered his head and licked the Spirit Orb, took one last look at the cave, and darted out swiftly. He didn’t notice the sudden, brief stagnation of the spirit energy around the cave the moment he left.

But very quickly, the spirit energy around it began being drawn into the cave again, its speed even subtly increasing.

—

Lin Chuyun had never traveled so desperately. His paw pads stung slightly from the stones on the ground, the fur on his body was blown completely disheveled by the wind, and his limbs were growing tired from the prolonged running.

But he dared not stop for a moment.

The closer he got, the more clearly Lin Chuyun could sense the pressure from the demon beast. It was at least a demon beast that had already undergone Core Formation. And the unpleasant scent he’d smelled earlier was clearly a thick, bloody smell; he just hadn’t recognized it immediately because it had been so far away.

Lin Chuyun swiftly leaped onto a nearby tree, finally stopping. The sky had completely darkened, but it didn’t hinder his vision at all. His cat pupils clearly saw something moving rapidly closer in the darkness not far away.

The little black cat carefully crouched down, hiding his paws beneath his body and tightly curling his tail. The tree he’d chosen had a strong floral fragrance, which could completely mask his scent.

A strange sound gradually emerged from the darkness.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap…_

Lin Chuyun narrowed his eyes slightly, his emerald cat pupils gradually dimming. He even slowed his breathing. The bloody smell drew closer, yet he still couldn’t see the demon beast. Only the palpable pressure reminded him that the demon beast was still nearby.

Nearby…

The emerald cat pupils suddenly constricted. The little black cat abruptly looked up and met a bizarrely grinning human face straight on. That human face was painted in garish, multicolored patterns, the corners of its mouth stiff as if forcibly lifted.

And now, that face was less than an inch from his! Lin Chuyun even suspected his whiskers had already touched it.

“Meow!!!” The little black cat let out a piercing shriek, his claws swiping out instinctively.

The human face retreated swiftly, dodging the little black cat’s claw tips, but its manner of movement was very strange. Lin Chuyun, still in shock, dared not blink, watching helplessly as the figure, back facing the tree trunk, scuttled straight up.

…N-no, no, no, it couldn’t be a ghost, right?

The fur on the little black cat’s tail had puffed up like a flower, his cat pupils still holding the lingering terror. After the figure burrowed into the leaves, the surroundings fell utterly silent.

Listening to the wind, Lin Chuyun steadied his nerves and carefully secured his footing on the branch.

Soft paw pads landed on the tree trunk without making a single sound. Profound cat pupils scanned back and forth among the leaves. Lin Chuyun knew that person hadn’t left, but he couldn’t find where they were.

A powerful sense of crisis struck. Lin Chuyun ducked instinctively. A cold breeze grazed past his ear tips. With a loud bang, the large tree he was on was cleanly severed at the middle.

The massive trunk crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that made Lin Chuyun cough so hard he couldn’t see clearly.

What on earth was this thing?! Wait, his senses clearly detected a demon beast—why would it suddenly turn into a person?!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Chuyun dared not stay in one place too long. Taking advantage of the dust also obscuring the figure’s vision, he darted rapidly through the leaves.

The little black cat was naturally small, and with the darkness of night, Lin Chuyun soon felt the cold gaze that had been fixed on him disappear. He cautiously hid himself in a pile of dead leaves, lowering his breathing to the minimum, his cat pupils constantly scanning.

Finally, perhaps because it couldn’t find the little black cat, the figure began pacing back and forth impatiently.

_Tap, tap, tap_—Lin Chuyun’s pupils constricted slightly. Was the strange sound he’d heard earlier actually this person’s footsteps? And as the dust slowly settled, the scene before him gradually became clear.

Looking at the creature standing on the broken tree, the little black cat’s pupils constricted into mere slits from fright.

It was a Demon Spider as large as a person.

The entire Demon Spider was pitch black, with only its legs glowing a dark, ominous purple. And the human face Lin Chuyun had seen earlier was unmistakably the pattern formed by the fur on its abdomen.

In other words… if he had looked up just a moment later, he would have been eaten by this Demon Spider.

For the first time, Lin Chuyun truly felt how close death was in the Cultivation World. It wasn’t that he was exactly afraid of spiders, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of a Demon Spider ten times his size.

Seeing the Demon Spider, unable to find him, about to head back towards Feng Xixing’s cave, Lin Chuyun gritted his teeth. He lowered his head and bit down on the Spirit Pearl, shattering it in one crunch.

Immense spirit power instantly flooded into his body. Ignoring the sharp pain wracking his body, Lin Chuyun burst from the pile of dead leaves and fiercely slashed a claw across the Demon Spider’s eye.

The Demon Spider had never expected this kitten, who moments ago had no spirit power at all, to suddenly possess so much. The pain in its eye enraged it. Without hesitation, it reared up its front body, shooting a strand of dark purple spider silk rapidly at the little black cat.

Lin Chuyun used the spirit power to dodge the silk. The trees behind him that were touched by the silk, however, were swiftly corroded away to nothing by the toxin on it.

This Demon Spider was terrifyingly venomous!

Lin Chuyun instantly abandoned any thought of a direct confrontation. He stood alert on a branch, his cat pupils fixed on the Demon Spider. The spirit power inside him rampaged violently, then was quickly devoured by the light spot in his Qi Sea.

He couldn’t waste time; once the spirit power was completely consumed by the light spot, fighting this Demon Spider would be even more impossible.

Lin Chuyun hesitated no more. He let out a provocative low growl at the Demon Spider. Seeing it enraged by his taunt, he turned tail and ran straight in another direction.

Since its Core Formation, this Demon Spider had never suffered such a loss. Not only was its eye scratched, but it was being provoked by a little Cat Demon without even a Demon Core. It completely lost its reason and chased after him without a second thought.

Seeing it follow, Lin Chuyun breathed a sigh of relief. If the Demon Spider had been determined to head towards Feng Xixing’s location, he might have truly had to fight it head-on.

Now… it was a matter of who was faster.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Chuyun pushed his speed even further under the boost of spirit power. However, although cats were fast, this little black cat was only palm-sized. Comparatively, while the Demon Spider ran slightly slower, the distance between them was still constantly shrinking.

Several times, Lin Chuyun was nearly entangled by the Demon Spider’s silk.

The spirit power in his body dwindled, and Lin Chuyun’s speed gradually slowed. Finally, during the Demon Spider’s next attack, he couldn’t completely dodge. A few strands of silk wrapped around his hind paw.

Though Lin Chuyun quickly bit through the silk, the toxin had already entered his body through the wound.

“Meow…!” Lin Chuyun gritted his teeth, making one last leap forward to dodge the Demon Spider’s gaping maw. But he stumbled due to the injured paw, tumbling head over heels and colliding with a rock on the ground.

And barely a foot away from the rock was an extremely high cliff.

His hind paw throbbed with agony, and the spirit power inside him was completely exhausted. Lin Chuyun struggled to open his eyes, only to see the Demon Spider approaching unhurriedly, as if knowing its prey was at its last gasp, starting to savor his death throes.

The little black cat staggered to his feet, trying desperately to puff up his tail to scare off the enemy. But he could no longer see the scene before him clearly. Finally, with a faint cry, he collapsed completely onto the ground.

“Meow…”

_Disciple…_

—

The giant boulder at the entrance to the cave shattered with a thunderous boom.

Meow! Meow Meow! Meow Meow Meow!